Characteristics of Quartz Crystals

Quartz is the most common and varied mineral on the planet. It is also an extremely versatile substance, with uses ranging from jewelry to electrical components. Collectors, scientists and even practitioners of alternative medicine find endless uses for the crystals. It's not hard to find quartz somewhere in your daily life, even if you think you don't have any contact with it.

Structure

• Quartz has a unique structure not shared by many other minerals. It forms unusual crystals--often very large and faultless but sometimes grainy as in a geode. The actual structure of quartz entails a corkscrewing helix of silicon tetrahedrons, and can get very complicated. The most common form entails a hexagonal prism shape, or what looks like a six-sided pyramid.

Color

• Quartz crystals come in an endless list of colors, from clear to opaque. Rock crystal is the clear variety, milky quartz has a cloudy white appearance, and amethyst consists of clear purple shaded stone. Many quartz forms--such as amethyst, citrine, and rose quartz--make popular choices for jewelry. Rock crystal quartz also acts as a crystal for jewelry and as tools by those who believe in the healing properties of quartz.

Use

• Sand actually consists of tiny quartz pebbles, and acts as the biggest ingredient in making glass. Quartz also serves as an abrasive for sandblasting or grinding glass. Transparent rock crystal has electronic uses such as in watches, as an oscillator for a radio and in pressure gauges. In addition, scientists use it in the study of optics. Quartz is essential in the computer industry, used in the creation of silicon semiconductors.